The difference between challenges and opportunities and why it matters to museums
We own our challenges, others own our opportunities.
Progress comes in two forms:
Challenges belong to us. Think of challenges as a wrapper for all the things a museum professional, team, or institution is trying to address or overcome. Our goals.
Opportunities are challenges owned by others that we’re positioned to support through our knowledge, skills, and resources.
Challenges are easy to identify. If I ask you to list your organization’s goals and obstacles to those goals, you won’t hesitate. You may not have a comprehensive view of the challenges, but you won’t have trouble identifying at least some of them.
Opportunities are surprisingly difficult to name. When people try to identify opportunities, they invariably start listing their own challenges. They’ll name parts of their museum’s mission or list programs as opportunities. I think that’s because we often think of opportunities as chances to further our own goals — solutions to our own challenges. And, since we’re genuinely trying to help other people through the work we do, we tend to list our work activities or objectives as opportunities for others.
“Become a more informed citizen” is a worthy goal, but it’s also a museum’s challenge.
“Diversify our collection” is another important goal, but it’s a museum’s challenge.
Remember, an opportunity is a challenge owned by someone else that the museum can support. (I’m not immune to this either. Identifying opportunities in this way is a bit like peeling fruit. First, I have to remove the protective layer of skin by naming my own challenges. Then it’s easier for me to settle in others’ point of view.)
We tend to start with our challenges, but we don’t have to. We can start with opportunities and use Challenges as a filter or as evaluative criteria.
For example, Find sponsors is a challenge. Often, this is where an organization begins its work. It’s that time of year … But we could start with the opportunity: Be viewed as a steward of the community so that we can cultivate the trust necessary to bring in new business. The opportunity is a challenge owned by someone else. It’s framed from the perspective of the person to whom it belongs. In this case, it’s a challenge owned by local businesses that the museum can support through a thing called Sponsorships. (Notice that when we frame opportunities, new possibilities emerge. We’re no longer only thinking in terms of solutions (sponsorships). This leads to new questions: Aren’t we really looking for funding (not sponsors, which is just a solution)? And are there other ways that a museum can help local businesses cultivate trust?
Another example: Host engaging artist talks for members is a challenge (goal). It’s natural for a membership department to start here, but the challenge doesn’t really tell us anything about the goal it supports — the opportunity. If we start with Find out whether and how I might become a professional artist, we’re naming the challenge owned by individuals that the museum can support by serving as a venue to connect emerging artists with professionals who are further along in their careers. Again, framing things in this way shows our challenge (host events that provide exclusive access for members) for what it is: One of many possible solutions to address an opportunity.
You might think:
“Whoa, are we here to help businesses make more money?” or
“Wait a second — How in the world is helping amateur artists going to be sustainable for us?”
Those are fair questions. One of the benefits of framing efforts in this way is that it forces us to ask them. After all, your museum is probably already doing these activities regularly and has been for a long time.
In the end, you might decide that, while it’s true that your museum doesn’t exist to help local businesses make more money, you still need to support that goal if you want to fulfill your mission. Now you’re in a position to own the work, though — You can say, “We need to support local businesses …”
Or you may decide that supporting amateur artists is not a viable opportunity, but those artist talks also attract people for whom rubbing elbows with artists generates a sense of importance. Those people can support your challenge (earn more revenue). Now you’re in a place where you can name the goal you want to support: Feel seen as someone who appreciates culture and creativity. And Host engaging artist talks for members is a solution to support that goal. Surely, there are others. But at least now you’ve named the opportunity that addresses your challenge.
That’s progress.
Kyle
